Exhaustion
by BlessedMay
Summary: Harry's tired, so is everybody else.


Harry slumped against the wooden table in the Weasley's kitchen. His green eyes, had they been open, would've shown his intense desire to go to sleep and never wake up. It had been, officially, the longest day of his life. He had done what he was bred for from birth. He had faced off with Voldemort. The battle had been ferocious. Wizards and witches from both sides had fallen in stunning numbers. He couldn't even recall how many Death Eaters had met their fate by his hand.

He was just glad it was over. Though their numbers were quickly fading, Harry had done what was necessary and defeated the Dark Lord. The elation he had after defeating him had faded away only a few minutes afterwards, and he had passed out in the middle of the battle field from exhaustion. He didn't know who had survived, who was in charge of gathering up the remaining Death Eaters, or who had even met their fate. All he knew was that he was tired and he wanted rest.

A knock at the doorway made him gather enough energy to lift his head and peer through half closed eyes to see who was there. Hermione stood in the doorway with a sad smile on her face. She looked as exhausted as he felt. Her normally springy, dark curls were hanging limply at her shoulders, she had dark circles under her eyes, and the wrinkles on her forehead spoke lengths of the battle they had fought. She sat down next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. She apparently wanted to sleep as well.

Harry laid his head back down on the table, he was so tired. He nearly burst into tears when another person knocked at the doorway. Ron stood there this time, his red hair hung in his face but he made no moves to remove it like he usually did. Lack of energy did that to a person. He joined them at the table, nearly collapsing next to Hermione. His head met the table with a soft "thump" and he was asleep before Harry could close his eyes.

Before Harry could lay his head back down, Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen. Her eyes were red, her cheeks were puffy, and her hair looked like she had run her hands through it many times. She had reason to look a mess; too many of her children had met their fate. Harry was too exhausted to even recall which ones had died at the hands of Death Eaters. He just wanted sleep. His head rested on the table again. He felt and heard Mrs. Weasley sit at the table and start crying again. He knew that he should comfort her, but he was simply too tired.

More sobs could be heard joining Mrs. Weasley and he knew that Hermione had started crying. Her tears fell onto his shoulder, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. Male voices were heard from the den and Harry vaguely recognized them as Remus, Charlie, and Mr. Weasley. They could talk all they wanted, Harry just wanted rest.

Snape's voice joined the other three men's and Harry felt a brief stirring of surprise and irritation. The potions master had turned out to be on the light side after all; it was strange what Dumbledore and Snape had decided when they had too much liquor in their systems. Snape, though an order member, would always be the evil potions master in Harry's mind. His eyes closed tighter, he was so tired and they were so loud. They entered the kitchen.

"Don't cry ladies," Mr. Weasley's kind voice said, "things'll turn out better, you'll see." Hermione slowly stopped crying, she emitted one last sniffle and then stopped completely. Mrs. Weasley was struggling to get her act together, but she was obviously distraught.

Remus and Charlie sat down at the table. The older man reached over and patted Harry lightly on the back.

"You've done good today Harry, why don't you and the other two go upstairs and get some rest?" His suggestion sounded wonderful, but the dark haired boy was too exhausted to move.

"Too tired." Remus gave a light chuckle.

"C'mon, me and Charlie here will help you all." With the other two men's help, Ron was awake, and all three were now slowly heading upstairs. Hermione was still leaning on Harry, she looked like she was going to pass out any moment. Thankfully, when she did fall asleep, she fell into her fiance's arms. Charlie quickly lifted her up and continued to trod upstairs, only stopping to lovingly rearrange her in his arms.

Ron suddenly stumbled and with Remus' help regained his footing. Harry just kept moving. His mind was utterly focused on getting to a bed where he could just collapse. When they finally reached Ron's room, Harry was so elated he almost cheered, the lack of energy however, stopped him. Remus opened the door and they trodded in.

Ron slipped into his bed first, his body squished against the wall. Hermione was placed next to him, they had no fears of anything happening not only because they trusted the boys, but because they were so tired. Harry waited until the other two were comfortable before he laid down beside them. Even when he was exhausted he thought of his friends first. His glasses were removed by Remus and placed on the side table.

The older men slipped out of the room before Harry could whisper his thanks. His exhaustion was intense, but Harry still was able to think over the day. From his last day at Hogwarts, to Voldemort showing up on the grounds, to defeating the Dark Lord, he viewed it all.

Before he passed out, one last thought flitted across his mind:

_"Thank Merlin it's over."_

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(A/N) Well... I don't know where that came from... but I'm happy to get it out of my system. The plot bunny loves to give me ideas.. just not the ones I need to keep my other fics continuing. However, I will soon return to finishing up the others if y'all are interested, I'm just taking a ... respite for a while. Until later - Sabeybaby


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